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Canada got the last hurrah at the Celebration of Light Saturday evening, closing the three-night event with a winning display. Canada was declared the winner of the event, with Brazil and China finishing second and third, respectively.

The city’s nightlife scene is evolving, with consumers seeking event-driven nights out

Despite Vancouver’s high cost of living and a young clientele not yet established in their careers, nightclub owner Bill Kerasiotis has found that today’s customers would rather spend $30 or $40 on a nightclub concert than pay a $10 cover charge.

Millennial customers want experiences, said Kerasiotis of Blueprint, a hospitality management firm that owns a number of nightclubs, bars and liquor stores in Vancouver.

“People aren’t buying CDs, they are buying tickets,” said Blueprint partner Alvaro Prol. “They don’t need to buy the song because it’s all over the Internet, they can hear it on SoundCloud, they can stream it. People want to share experiences. They want to be around energy and music concerts.”

Donnelly Group talent buyer Jay Wallace agrees. The nightclub concert market has been growing in the past five years, said Wallace, who books for Republic and Killjoy. Watching an artist perform in a nightclub is an “up-close, intimate experience.... It’s a lot easier to connect with your favourite artist in a nightclub setting than at Rogers Arena.”

Paul Haagenson, chief operating officer of Live Nation Canada, said music fans in their 20s and 30s are willing to dish out for live events because they “appreciate the special experience that seeing their favourite artist live can bring.”

Twenty per cent of Blueprint’s bookings are now for venues other than their own, and the firm is expanding its music promotion business into Alberta.

“Last year at this time, we brought in 18 shows. This year, this same month? Forty-three,” Prol said.

When young Millennials go out, it’s event-driven, Kerasiotis said. They are looking for a specific genre, band, act or DJ.

“Twenty years ago, people were more open to just going out and exploring and seeing what’s out there. (Now) you have to offer something unique,” he said. “Ten years ago, people didn’t want to pay $20 tickets and were happier paying a $10 cover charge.”

But as an entrepreneur, bringing in live entertainment means greatly increased risk.

“(It’s about) hiring the right artist and hoping you can appeal to x number of people to make it work,” Kerasiotis said. “We produce over 350 events a year (with an audience) ranging from 200 people to 13,000 people. There’s a lot of misses buying these shows.”

Income must come from multiple sources including coat check, drinks, sponsorship and ticketing.

“The concert department is one of our biggest drivers, but living just from the tickets, it’s a lot harder,” Prol said.

The nightclub business has become increasingly sophisticated, said Kerasiotis, who comes from a long line of Vancouver hospitality entrepreneurs. “The investment is probably five to 10 times more than 20 years ago. People are investing more in the product in terms of atmosphere, environment, sound, lighting.”

Kerasiotis’s father and uncles started with Olympic Pizza on Broadway in the mid- to late-’60s. In the 1970s, the family moved into the nightclub business when they partnered with the owner of Luv-A-Fair, then took over the club a year later.

In today’s market, “it’s not just how good your bar looks,” Kerasiotis said. “It’s all about the artists. Showcase the artist.... It could be like a dubstep DJ that appeals to 19-year-old kids or a hip hop show that appeals to 45-year-olds. It’s something to wrap your head around, not being about a certain demographic. That’s maybe the way it used to be.”

Blueprint specializes in 300- to 500-seat rooms, but also books venues such as the PNE, BC Place and large outdoor concerts in Stanley Park. Ticket prices range from $10 to $250, but averages at $25 to $45, Kerasiotis said.

The Donnelly Group’s Wallace said he keeps the spread between cover and ticket prices small and often offers tickets at $20 or $25.

Blueprint brands each of its venues individually.

“It has to survive on its own if need be,” Kerasiotis said. “It’s more appealing to our customers.”

The company has grown into a significant enterprise with 35 head office employees and 400 staff at its nightclubs, bars and liquor stores, which include Celebrities, Caprice, Venue, The Charles Bar and West End Liquor Store. Edmonton’s Connected Entertainment and Calgary’s Aqua Audio are now part of Blueprint.

“We didn’t want to go in there and become competitors, so we grabbed a couple of players,” Prol said. “Let’s do it together. Hopefully we can do it better.”

Being a larger company helps lower risk by creating the ability to offer an artist several gigs at once and by increasing access to appropriate venues.

“It’s a hard business to remain successful at,” Prol said. “You have to see trends. You have to buy talent well. You have to know when to go big and when not. At the end of it all, you have to know when that artist is ready to move up.”

Last year’s headliner could be this year’s dud. An outdoor festival can be rained out, and global events can alter consumer mood. Then there’s the logistics in artist booking, marketing and hosting plus the show’s sound and light setup.

“There are so many moving pieces when you do 300 of them a year. You don’t want to make mistakes. One little mistake has a domino effect,” Kerasiotis said.

Even so, Blueprint appears to have outgrown B.C.

“Our focus right now is growing our music outside of Vancouver, producing events in B.C. or Alberta,” Kerasiotis said. “The city’s only so big. We can’t continue to open clubs. It doesn’t work.”

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